


Trading Hearts

by Lyriacity



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-14 18:34:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3421265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyriacity/pseuds/Lyriacity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A boy born without a heart changes the life of the recluse wizard, Oikawa Tooru</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trading Hearts

Kageyama Tobio had been born without a heart.

Oikawa still remembers the rainy night when the brat’s mother had come crawling to his door. Although she was wrapped in several layers of cloaks, you could tell that she was a pretty little thing with dark hair, full lips and a beauty mark on her face. Her eyes seemed clouded over by something that Oikawa could not recall seeing before – and that was rare.

“Ah, hello darling~” Oikawa trilled. “Come in, come in!”

The woman entered his house but said no words. Oddly enough, she was quite dry despite the torrents outside that smashed against Oikawa’s mansion.

“And what brings you here?” Oikawa mused, setting the woman down on a chair in his living room. “Pretty little thing like you shouldn’t be out in this weather.”

“I need something,” she said with such a straight face that it irked the brunette.

“Of course you do,” he said in a singsong voice and sat down. “Why else would you be here?”

Oikawa the grand wizard – don’t call him that though, he hates that title – lived a solitary life in the middle of the woods. Being the greatest wizard in the world and lord of time among other things made the man weary of ordinary life, so he took to living inside a mansion within the woods – a mansion because you can’t expect the grand king to live in a tiny house in the woods – and occasionally granting the wish of lost folk that would wind up on his doorstep – for a price.

Slowly and carefully, the woman unwrapped a bundle in her cloak and Oikawa saw a small and pale face, sleeping and barely breathing.

“Oh, and what seems to be the problem here?” Oikawa asked, walking towards the child. “Oh? What’s this?” he placed his forefingers on the infants. “Why, it appears he has no heart.”

In Oikawa’s long and eventful life, a person born without a heart wasn’t completely unheard of; it was rare but not unheard of. He felt the child grow colder and fainter.

            Oikawa steeled himself. “The cost for giving a heart to someone is high, you know? I’ve only ever seen this happen once, and the price was not pretty,” his voice grew softer. “What are you willing to give?”

            She shook slightly. “My heart.”

            “Pardon?” Oikawa looked at her quizzically.

            “My heart, for his,” she said curtly.

            “You’ll give me your heart?” Oikawa said, astounded. “Are you sure?”

            She nodded. “I’ll trade it for his and yours.”

            “Pardon me?” Oikawa guffawed. No one had ever state such a blatant attempt for his heart. He found that oddly charming.

            “Give him half of my heart, the other half is yours.”

            “Oh, and why would I want that?”

            “Payment. Raise him,” she had said.

            “Is your heart worth that much?”

            “My heart can love.”

            That last response struck Oikawa in a strange way. Was she mocking him? No…she couldn’t have known. Perhaps she was referring to a maternal love? She looked at the child with the same foggy eyes she showed Oikawa, though he could feel some sort of affection within them. However something felt off, it was as if their strings of fate were mismatched – an odd case between a child and his mother.

            “An estranged mother’s love,” he mumbled as his hand reached out to her chest and dug his fingers into her breast. He offered her a smile and she braced herself for what was to come. She spared one last look to the child and for the first time that evening, Oikawa saw her smile. Oikawa almost laughed. “I’ll take it.”

 

            It was no exaggeration to say that Oikawa had no knowledge of how to raise a child. Over six hundred years alive and he had never bothered to learn – he thought he’s never need to know. But life had such a funny way of showing Oikawa its love.

            “Kageyama Tobio,” Oikawa said blandly, reading the note within the baby’s copper locket. “Is that your name?”

            Of course the baby did not respond, it merely gurgled in delight – Oikawa took that as a yes.

            “Alright, Tobio-chan,” Oikawa said decidedly, raising the baby up to look into his eyes. “I’m Oikawa Tooru, I’ll be raising you since your mom isn’t here anymore, so let’s get along, yeah?”

            Oikawa could tell after the baby promptly threw up on his front that raising a kid might be harder than raising the dead.

            “Oh dear,” realized Oikawa. “What do babies even eat?”

 

            “He’s adorable,” Sugawara cooed at the young child. After Tobio’s little puking fiasco, Oikawa did not hesitate to clean up and call from help to the only person that would listen - Sugawara Koushi the god of desire. “Where on earth did you find such a little cutie?” Sugawara asked while holding the baby who seemed to be entertained by playing with his silver hair.

            “Lady traded half her heart so I could raise him,” Oikawa answered.

            “And the other half?” Suga inquired, since beings with half a heart were considered taboo and to become one was a fate worse than death (or in this case, worse than having no heart).

            “He was born without a heart,” he said, gesturing the baby.

            “That’s awful!” gasped Suga. “So what did you-“ realization dawned on Suga’s face. “No! Tooru! You didn’t.”

            “It was her wish,” said Oikawa. “I granted it, isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?”

            “Tooru!” Suga held the baby closer to his chest. “But, half a heart is…you should know! You, out of all people.”

            “He’s alive, isn’t he?”

            “Tooru…how could you?”

            “So, any idea what babies eat?” Oikawa asked, ignoring Suga’s question. “The little brat puked on me earlier, so I’m guessing he should be pretty hungry by now.”

            “Tooru,” Suga said, following Oikawa as he drifted into his kitchen. “You’re really going through with this, aren’t you?”

            “Do you think they can eat bananas?” said Oikawa, once again ignoring Sugawara’s questions. “Or maybe apples?”

            “Tooru,” Suga said. Oikawa looked at him with half sad eyes. _It’s a wish_ , his eyes said. Suga sighed. “Bananas should be fine is we mash them up.”

 

            According to Suga’s rushed and haphazard attempt at a parenting tutorial, children usually became rebellious around fourteen.

            Kageyama started ten years early.

            “Tobio-chan, make sure you don’t go too far, the wolves might get you,” Oikawa told Tobio as they went for a stroll in the woods to gather some mushrooms that the brunette had been craving.

            “There aren’t any wolves here,” Kageyama said in monotone. “Suga-san told me that this forest is safe. You put a spell on it, remember?”

            Oikawa bit the inside of his cheek. Ever since Tobio had learned to talk, he gained a mouth and he knew how to use it – usually to insult or berate the wizard.

            “Fine,” Oikawa pouted. “Go ahead and get lost, see if I care!”

            “I can’t,” Kageyama said. “There’s a trail leading back to the house. I can’t get lost.”

            Oikawa marched forward in small and brittle steps – just like a child throwing a tantrum. Sometimes, Tobio was just so, so, so…so… _unf!_

            “Oikawa-san?” Kageyama called out, hastily walking towards Oikawa on his chubby little legs.

            “What is it?” Oikawa said, grinding his teeth.

            “Can we…” Kageyama averted his eyes. “Can we hold hands?”

            Oikawa was all sunshine and rainbows. “Of course, Tobio-chan!” he replied, taking the boy’s small hand into his. “Say, Tobio-chan,” Oikawa said as they walked deeper into the woods. “Do you love me?”

            “What are you saying?” Tobio gasped. “That’s a stupid question.”

            Just when you think they-

            “Of course I love you.”

            “Tobio-chan!” Oikawa brightened up and hugged the boy.

            “Oikawa-san! I can’t breathe.”

            Sometimes, Tobio was just so cute.

           

 

“Oikawa-san,” Tobio called his attention when he turned ten.

“Hmmm?” Oikawa hummed as he chopped away at some carrots, well he likes to think it was ‘chopped’ even though it looked like a bunch of uneven chunks to Tobio. “What is it?”

“I want to go to school,” he said curtly.

Oikawa almost stabbed his hand. “School?” he asked, playing dumb. “What’s that?”

“It’s a place with other kids like me where we can learn and play,” Kageyama said with a stoned face. “That’s what Suga-san said.”

Oikawa felt a vein throb in his head. He had been hoping that his little Tobio-chan would never find out about the world outside of the woods, but Oikawa should’ve known better. Kageyama was a curious soul, so it was about time he knew anyway. He sighed and set down the knife, walking over to Kageyama who had been peeking at him from behind the kitchen counter.

“It’s a big world out there,” said Oikawa with his ‘serious’ voice. “It’s hard, a little bit scary and you never know how people might act. Are you sure you want to go there?”

Kageyama nodded.

“There’s no helping it, then,” Oikawa exhaled deeply. “I’ll go to the village and see if they’ll let you in.”

“Really?” Kageyama’s eyes sparkled. “Would you really?”

“If that’s what Tobio-chan wants,” he winked.

“Yay!” he cheered and stretched out his arms to hug Oikawa over the counter. “I love you!”

“I love you too, Tobio-chan.”

 

_“Hey kid,” a rough voice called out to him. “You alive?”_

_The brown haired child groaned in pain. He tried to sit up but fell back down to the floor._

_“Be careful,” the voice said. “Don’t move too much.”_

_“What…what happened?” he managed to mumble out._

_“Someone stole your heart,” the voice replied gruffly._

_“How am I still-“_

_“Someone_ else _felt generous enough to give you half their heart.”_

 _Half a heart. The boy had heard that term before. It was an insult where he came from. A taboo, an offense against humanity – which meant that_ he _was an offense against humanity._

_“Where’s the other half?” he had the gall to ask._

_“With me,” he said. “It’s my pay.”_

_“For what?”_

_“For putting up with you,” the voice sighed. “Now go to sleep.”_

_The voice was gruff and sounded like it belonged to some sort of stone-faced bastard, but it felt oddly comforting to the boy. The voice was humming a strange tune, and it seemed to lull the boy._

_“May I know who you are?” he yawned all of a sudden, even though it wasn’t even two minutes ago that he wasn’t sleepy at all._

_“Iwaizumi Hajime,” the boy heard before he embraced sleep. “God of time.”_

 

“Oikawa-san, may I ask you a question?”

“Ah, Tobio-chan, what is it?” he said looking up.

Kageyama Tobio had grown into a fine specimen of a man.

“Will you never age?”

“Never~” Oikawa winked. “Why’re you asking?”

“Suga-san told me something about gods of time.”

“Oh?” Oikawa’s expression darkened. “And why did he do that?”

“Because…I’m not a baby anymore, Oikawa-san, I know,” Kageyama said firmly.

“Know what?” Oikawa treaded warily. He dreaded the day that this would happen. He braced himself for the worst.

“I know that I have half a heart.”

 

_“Iwa-chan,” the boy called out to the taller man. “What does it mean to have half a heart? Why is it so bad? I don’t understand…I mean…I feel normal.”_

_“That’s because you haven’t felt love yet,” the man said. “You see, those with hearts have the ability to love a person. They have the ability to give everything and take everything from a person.”_

_“That sounds scary,” the boy frowned._

_“It does, doesn’t it?” Iwaizumi sighed. “But, you’ll have the desire to feel it one day.”_

_“What does love have to do with having half a heart?”_

_“Because their love is doomed to fail,” Iwaizumi said. “No matter how much they think they love a person, it’s never really real. Half hearts aren’t capable of that.”_

_“And why is that so wrong? It’s not like I’ll ever need it, I mean, I have Iwa-chan!” the boy grinned._

_The man ruffled the boy’s hair. “Do you love me, kid?”_

_“I think so!”_

_“Iwa-chan,” the boy had grown older. His height was taller, his face sharp and his eyes slyer than ever. “Do you love me?”_

_“Maybe.”_

_“What is that supposed to mean?”_

_“I have a frozen heart, kid,” the man explained. “That’s why time doesn’t move for me. I can’t love.”_

_“That’s horrible!” the boy gasped. “Is there anyway to unfreeze it?”_

_“Yes, but I’ll tell you another day.”_

_“Did you know that a god’s heart thaws when he dies?”_

_“What?”_

_“It’s a mercy death. We exchange our ability to love for time and magic. But when we die, though, it’s as if we’re human again. We feel love for those few moments.”_

_“But I don’t want Iwa-chan to die!”_

_“I’ m not going anytime soon, stupid.”_

_“How do you even kill a god?” the boy questioned. “You’re so strong, no one could kill you!”_

_“It’s easy,” the god replied. “We can die whenever we want, we just need to find the right person to carry the burden.”_

_“What does that mean?”_

_“Let me put it this way,” Iwaizumi said. “When one god dies, it is because another one is born.”_

“Is there no way to get another half of a heart?” Kageyama asked him.

“Not unless someone’s willing to give it up~,” Oikawa replied promptly. Oikawa eyed the man properly, he was blushing and fidgeting under his stare. “Are you in love, Tobio-chan?”

Kageyama flushed into an even redder color – Oikawa took that as a yes.

“She must be a nice girl.”

“He,” Kageyama corrected.

“Ah, nothing wrong with that,” Oikawa winked.

“Would you give me yours?” Kageyama blurted out. “I mean, hypothetically speaking…”

“You don’t want this heart,” Oikawa said in a dark tone. “It’s useless.”

 

“Hinata got married,” Kageyama told Oikawa one day. “I was the best man.”

“Oh? How was it? I haven’t been to a wedding in _forever_ ,” Oikawa said.

“It was wonderful. Yachi-san looked very pretty.”

“I wish them happiness,” Oikawa sang as he walked towards Kageyama and wrapped his arms around him. “You can cry now.”

Kageyama bawled like no tomorrow.

 

_“Iwa-chan, are you okay? You look down.”_

_“I’m fine…just,” Iwaizumi groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “Just tired.”_

_“Iwa-chan!” the boy – no longer a boy – yelled out. “I’ve decided. Iwa-chan’s been awake for so long, right? I’ll let you sleep now!”_

_Iwaizumi groaned. “What the hell are you talking about?”_

_“I read it. I can do it!”_

_“Do what?”_

_“I’ll become the next god of time!”_

_“Do you even know what the hell you’re talking about?” Iwaizumi’s expression grew cold. “You’d be giving up your love, and you don’t even have much of it to give.”_

_“I know that!” Oikawa pouted. “But, I love Iwaizumi Hajime, so I’m going to give you the best damn gift I can get you!”_

_“You’re stupid.”_

_“I love you too.”_

“Do you wish that you could die?”

“What’s with such a dark question, Tobio-chan?”

“I read a book about creatures called vampires,” Kageyama droned on. “They are creatures that used to be humans, but they drink blood to live. And it’s like they’re frozen in time – they never age you see. But they’re fragile, very much so according to the book. And in this book, the vampire constantly wished for death.”

“You’re into some weird things, Tobio-chan,” Oikawa remarked.

Kageyama chuckled. “I was raised by weird things after all.

 

_It happened so quickly, a cold spark jittered through Oikawa’s body until he felt…nothing. His senses were working, it’s just that he felt so dead._

_Was he still alive?_

_He remembers seeing Iwaizumi crying and kissing him everywhere – had Iwaizumi always felt this warm? He looked happy._

_This is the man I loved, he thought to himself._

_“I love you,” the man said to him. “I love you. I love you. I love you.” Iwaizumi declared his love like a mantra. And deep down, Oikawa felt a strange sort of feeling stirring. “I love you, Tooru.”_

_However, he could not reply._

_For all went silent._

“I want to do it.”

Oikawa almost spit out what he was eating when he heard Kageyama say that. “Pardon me?” he coughed.

“Become the lord of time.”

Oikawa would’ve laughed but he knew that Kageyama was being serious. “Are you stupid?”

“I’m not.”

“Then why would you want to become the lord of time?” Oikawa raised an eyebrow at Kageyama.

“I want to love you.”

Oikawa knew he was doomed. He covered his face with his hands and sighed deeply. Peeking through his fingers, he knew that he was looking at the person he used to be a long, long time ago.

“No,” said Oikawa.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to,” he poked his tongue out.

“I want to make a deal!” declared Kageyama.

“Tobio, don’t you dare-“

“A wish. A deal. Whatever you want to call it,” he held Oikawa’s shoulders tightly and stared him in the eye. “I want to become to god of time. And I want half of your heart when you die.”

“Wow, aren’t you demanding?” Oikawa replied. “And what on earth can you offer me?”

“I’ll love you. And you’ll love me. I’ll make sure that your love will be returned.”

Oikawa groaned. “When did I raise such an idiot?”

 

It had been like a prick of a very cold needle. All feelings and warmth came rushing back to Oikawa. He felt so alive – he wasn’t pretending anymore.

And Kageyama had been there. For those few moments, he had a full heart, a full heart that was red and beating blood. And Kageyama had loved Oikawa, and Oikawa had loved him back.

“I love you. I love you. I love you,” Kageyama had chanted like a mantra. “I love you, Tooru.”

Oikawa could almost cry. Even with half a heart, he could feel so much, and with a person that loved him so much, all he could do was drown in the feeling.

“I love you too, Tobio.”

 

 

“You really spoiled him to death, didn’t you?” grinned Suga.

“He spoiled me, so I suppose it’s only fair,” Kageyama replied.

“How did it feel?” Suga asked.

“How did what feel?”

“Love.”

Kageyama closed his eyes and allowed himself to smile.

“It felt wonderful.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm kind of proud of this.


End file.
